The Hanging Garden

Starring:Ian Parsons, Peter MacNeill, Troy Veinotte, Kerry Fox, Mark Austin, Joel S. Keller, Heather Rankin, Christine Dunsworth, Seana McKenna, Joan Orenstein, Chris Leavins, Ashley MacIsaac, Jocelyn Cunningham, Jim Faraday, Sarah Polley, Renee Penney, Martha Irving, Annabelle Dexter, Michael Weir, Tom Chambers (III)
Director: Thom Fitzgerald
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Product Type: DVD

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Canadian writer-director Thom Fitzgerald won awards for this unusual memory piece about a gay man (Chris Leavins) who returns home to his sister's wedding and the garden where he may or may not have made a tragic decision as an unhappy teen. Fitzgerald alters reality and indulges in quirks without any comment: past and present mingle, the eyes of statues move, and the whole thing drips with rain, portent, and an unpredictable sense of humor. His film will frustrate anyone wanting easy answers (or, in some cases, any answers at all) and it is, perhaps, aggressively unconventional. But its raw edges have a freshness to them, and Fitzgerald's people and events feel unusually alive (Kerry Fox is particularly fine as the brassy sibling). He doesn't view his characters in one dimension, seeing them instead as ever-blooming creatures of history, dreams, superstition, and regret. --Steve Wiecking

Description

"Unpredictable" (The Hollywood Reporter), "imaginative" (Movieline) and "powerfully acted" (The New York Times), The Hanging Garden combines a "bittersweet story about family secrets" (Premiere) and compelling performances from Chris Leavins (Nothing to Lose), Kerry Fox (Shallow Grave) and Sarah Polley (Go) into a "strange, utterly original"(Variety) and award-winning* film! Ten years have disappeared since William (Leavins) last visited his hometown. Now trim, attractive and as headstrong as he was once sullen, he is ready to face his dysfunctional family. But when the visit conjures up a haunting reality long since buried, William must accept that his appearance has been the least of the changes in his and his family's lives since the day he left, ten years before. *1997: Most Popular Film and Best Canadian Film, Toronto International Film Festival

Customer Reviews:

Very Special.......2006-12-18

"THE HANGING GARDEN"

Very Special

Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride

Also not a new film "The Hanging Garden" (MGM DVD, 1997) is an important one in that it is the story of a gay man who moved away from home to come out and then returns ten years after he ran away as an unhappy, obese teenager. As he comes back to watch his sister be married he is faced with both family members and conflicts that spark painful memories.
When William returns to see his sister marry his boyhood friend, things were already screwed up. His father has become more of an alcoholic than he was when William left, his mother cannot stand herself or her life and a young boy who reflects himself when he was young has hung himself from a tree in the backyard. Now all of this sounds a bit confusing but let me assure you that as a metaphor this movie is beautiful. What you must remember is that according to the Tarot cards, death does not mean death but a change.
William's problems with his family stem from the fact that he is openly gay but because of the changes he goes through we see the power of everything. This film is brilliantly acted and lushly photographed. At first you may feel that you are watching yet another movie about a dysfunctional family. Sure, it is a family with problems but this is not what gives the characters life. As we watch the mixture of love, pathos and tragedy which ultimately brings about a beautiful conclusion, our own feelings are renewed and heightened.
William, our main character, returns to watch his first lover, Fletcher, marry his free-spirited and foul mouthed sister. Rosemary. Through flashbacks and mind wandering memory sequence, we are let into the past of the family and the gay life of William. The film is basically a group of character sketches. In one such sketch, William has his first gay encounter and his mother is aghast beyond words. She plans to set him up with a town whore to cure him of his "problem" but William, successfully completely the sexual tryst and still prefers men.
On several occasions the grown William comes face to face with the younger William and brings about ugly memories and a sorrowful re-acquaintance with the time that he attempted suicide. This is a touching scene that can move one to tears while the movie never really does not reach a tear jerking status. This is an uplifting movie and is really full of hope.
"The Hanging Garden" is a realistic family drama which combines fantasy and reality but by and large is the tale of a troubled, young, urban, gay man coming home to face his family and himself. The garden of the title, where the wedding is being held, holds the majority of the memories of the family.
William surprises his family with a new look, he is thin and handsome but the scars of his youth still burn--the abuse he suffered from his father, the attempt to reform him by his mother, the appearance of his childhood boyfriend, Fletcher are memories that haunt him. The once obese boy who looked to suicide as a way out of his problems still feels anguish and pain. It is through the eyes of William that the film progresses. As depressing as all of this sounds, the film is optimistic and imaginative. At times hard to follow, for those who manage to succumb to the beauty portrayed here, they will have a beautiful memory of having seen something very special.

A Dying Hanging Garden.......2006-03-04

I always keep an open mind when it comes to watching movies. Regardless of what the plot may be, if it is executed well, anything goes. I read the plot synopsis of this film and thought it sounded interesting. I did not know that the manner in which this story was told would be through one cliched visual gimmick after another.

I don't feel the need to go into particulars of the plot of The Hanging Garden. The plot is not important. What is important to know, however, is that this story is told in starts and stops as the time frame jumps from past to present and back. There is no structure to the director's method of jumping time. The method is not free form but more free wheeling. The acting is done by people who seem to only be around to appear convincing enough and interesting enough to collect a paycheck. They neither are convincing or interesting. But, this may be because the characterizations are so unrealized.

The Celtic music is extremely grating, the cursing is cliched (and plentiful), and the back story of the characters is sketchy at best. I wish I could find something decent about this movie. Well, the lighting was good. Can't say much for the sound though. One scene by the water is filled with so much background noise I have no clue what was being said. Bottom line is The Hanging Gardens is a gimmicky film that has more style than substance and unfortunately, the style is void of originality or worthiness. Stay away from this film.

An overgrown garden.......2004-07-07

Like many things Canadian, this film takes a bit of getting used to. At first glance, it seemed confusing and too understated and I was on the verge of writing off the whole Canadian film industry as a load of bunkum, when I gave myself and the film a second chance. And I'm glad I did.

'The Hanging Garden' is in many ways, 'American Beauty' taken up north. There's family dysfunction galore, (...)repressed and rescued, symbolism around every corner and yes, the flowers. But whereas Sam Mendes' opus concentrates on the symbolism of the rose, Canadian Thom Fitzgerald throws a whole garden at us. Sweet Williams, Black-Eyed Susans, Violets, Laurels and even an Iris, the image of garden as family and flower as individual is brilliantly done here. And whereas Mendes focused on satirizing the surface of things, Fitzgerald has gone deep into some pretty dark territory.

Sweet William returns 'home' after a ten-year exile from his family and painful childhood. He arrives on the day his beloved sis, Rosemary, is to be married. Nothing out of the ordinary, just Sweet Willy's a little late. And for a reason. This Sweet William is a much different person than the one who escaped ten years ago.

As the story unfolds, the weeds of the family's past begin to poke up through the dirt. William returns to an alcoholic father, Whiskey Mac, who has succeeded in alienating just about everybody with his tyrannical selfishness. In fact, on the night of his return, William helps him to bed and then has a heart to heart chat with his mother, Iris. Iris blames her children and her abusive husband for keeping her in bondage, when in fact, her own exaggerated sense of duty has kept her locked up all along. She suddenly elopes from the house and sets the family upside down as to why she has disappeared.

As the search for answers continues, William sees the ghosts of his former unhappy self, an obese, self-loathing teen who can't come to terms with his own homosexuality, glide through the house and garden. William retraces the steps of his sorrowful childhood, from his first (...)experience (with the boy who would later become his sister's husband!) to the final climax of his self-hatred. William must confront the person he tried to kill ten years ago in the garden. Who was he? Why was he pushed to such an act? And how can he move on?

But his journey to freedom means facing some unpleasant truths from the past and present, not all entirely of his own making. Caught in flagrante delicto with a boy by his near-senile, Virgin-hugging Catholic granny, William is sent to the local prostitute. Sent by his mother no less! And ten years later, William learns that the foul-mouthed tom-boy brat at his sister's wedding is actually the fruit of that most unpleasant union. Moreover, his sister's groom, Fletcher, Willy's first love whose rejection led to the near-fatal suicide attempt, now desires the new, sexy William more than ever!

The film is convoluted, contrived and utterly confusing as plausibilty is stretched to the limits. It would be hard to find such mother as Iris, or a husband-to-be like Fletcher, but somehow, the film makes you believe it all could have happened. And that's the whole point. Whatever really happened in the past is never as clear as we would like it to be. Lines cross, colors bleed and images blur.

At first, the acting struck me as too low-key, but after two more viewings, the subtle performances of Chris Leavin (William), Peter Mc Neill (Whiskey Mac), and Seanna Mc Kanna (Iris), more than made up for the lack of big names involved. Also, the backdrop of Celtic music combined with exquisite camera work (close-ups of flowers and faces!) made the film a treat to watch.

Despite some pernicious weeds, 'The Hanging Garden' makes its case. In order for us to free ourselves from our past, we need to confront it and then bury it deep, for under every flower bed lies a whole lot of manure.

Boringggggggggggggg........2003-12-24

I really tried watching this 3 times. Each time I could not finish. I found it so boringggg! It dragged on and really never seemed to keep my interest.

Dark, sad and understandable.......2003-09-11

The film quality was good as was the audio. The actors did a good job and the story was strange but something connects with a great many who will see it. I related well with the film and was drawn into some parts deeply. I feel it was a good investment.

The Hanging Garden [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Spain ]

Average customer rating:

The Hanging Garden [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - Spain ]
Director: Thom Fitzgerald
Manufacturer: Aurum
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Product Description

Spain released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada. LANGUAGES: English (Dolby Digital 2.0), Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0), Spanish (Subtitles), SYNOPSIS: Ten years after he disappeared from his family's life, Sweet William (Chris Leavins) returns home to Nova Scotia for his sister's wedding. Despite the fact that he's gone from a morbidly obese adolescent to a thin, handsome, self-assured young man, the reunion proves bittersweet. Although he reconnects with his loving sister Rosemary (Kerry Fox) and his Alzheimer's-afflicted grandmother Grace (Joan Orenstein), he is dismayed to learn that his parents' rocky marriage has settled into permanent animosity. He also witnesses the toll his absence has taken on his abusive, alcoholic father, Whiskey Mack (Peter MacNeill); his tight-lipped mother Iris (Seana McKenna); and Violet (Christine Dunsworth), the tomboyish younger sister he's never met. The past lingers in the very air of William's childhood home; disturbing visions of himself as both a waifish boy (Ian Parsons) and a fat adolescent (Troy Veinotte) follow him everywhere. And it's not just the ghosts who dredge up the past. Rosemary's new husband, Fletcher (Joel S. Keller), flirts shamelessly with William, bringing back memories of the painful relationship the two shared as teenagers. When Iris disappears, William must confront not only the haunting visions of his past, but also the unfinished business he left behind. The feature debut of writer/director Thom Fitzgerald, The Hanging Garden was the winner of the Air Canada People's Choice Award for best picture and the co-winner of the Toronto-CITY TV Award for Best Canadian Film at the Toronto International Film Festival. SPECIAL FEATURES: Scene Access, Photo Gallery, Interactive Menu, Filmographies,

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